TDS is pleased to be an Innovate Manitoba sponsor.
The Pembina Valley Entrepreneur Boot Camp on April 3 to 4, 2017 will give you the information and tools to enhance your business skills and help you succeed.

Insurance Overview

Lawyers in our insurance group advise insurers directly on a complex variety of legal matters including corporate organization and regulatory compliance, interpretation of policies, the provision of coverage opinions, and litigation of coverage disputes. Our insurance lawyers also deal extensively with investigations into fraudulent claims, arson and other deviant claims activity.

Notably, our insurance group possesses demonstrated expertise in the defence of professional liability claims throughout Manitoba, an area in which our services are sought out by leading regional and national insurers.

Paul Brett’s practice is restricted to civil litigation and transportation matters arising in the Provinces of Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Paul conducts a general civil litigation practice with an emphasis on agribusiness and food liability matters, insurance defence, coverage and regulatory matters, including general liability, errors and omissions, products liability, life and health, reciprocal exchanges and motor transportation law.

A forestry company is planning its next major project in a northern region of the province. It obtains the required permits and engages in what it believes to be consultation with Aboriginal communities in the affected region. Aboriginal leaders are informed of the project's scope and duration, and all signs point towards a mutually beneficial relationship in moving forward with the project. Two weeks into harvesting operations, the company is served with a Statement of Claim where an Aboriginal group is seeking an injunction on harvesting operations, the quashing of all forestry permits, and most alarmingly, substantial monetary compensation for impacting Aboriginal or Treaty rights. Will the litigation be successful? But there is a more immediate matter. Regardless of the strength of the company's case, does it have enough funds to engage in litigation at all? One possible option is to look at the insurance policy that most companies have.
This article was originally written for the Mid-Canada Forestry & Mining Magazine and is re-published with permission.

Lawsuits are common in the construction industry. When embarking on any major construction project, companies will often obtain insurance to protect themselves in the event of an accident (an event which is neither expected nor intended). However, on occasion, a claim arises in relation to a construction project where a company may not have the protection it believed it had in place. As a result, the company finds itself being met by the insurance company saying that the claim falls outside the policy, and the insurer saying it has no duty to defend the company in the lawsuit.

Storing historical information indefinitely represents a significant cost and inconvenience. However, documents relating to insurance coverage should be preserved at all costs, since lost or destroyed insurance records can have devastating results.

Third party claims covered by liability insurance create a unique role for insurance defence counsel. It also creates unique relationships between insurer and insured.
The purpose of this seminar is twofold. First, it is to address the legal ethical obligations of insurance defence counsel when appointed to defend a case. Who is the defence counsel's client? What obligations are owed to the client by the lawyer? What happens when an insured tells defence counsel something material to coverage (as opposed to the defence of the underlying claim)? What should defence counsel do-- disclose to all parties? withdraw without comment?

This guide is part of the Lex Mundi Global Practice Guide Series which features substantive overviews of laws, practice areas, and legal and business issues in jurisdictions around the globe. This particular guide discusses insurance in the province of Manitoba with respect to insurance law.